This is mostly about sports, and then mostly about baseball. It will favor the New York Yankees, the New Jersey Devils, Rutgers University football, and the London soccer club Arsenal. You got a problem with that? Make your own blog.

Monday, October 11, 2010

New York Sports Final Fours, Twos & Ones

This counts the major leagues only. It does not include college basketball "Final Fours," because then I would have to differentiate between eras, when the NIT was more important and when the NCAA was -- and when that switch became "official." I am counting the following:

MLB: LCS berths from 1969 onward, and finishes of at least second place in the single-division leagues of 1876 to 1968.

NFL: NFC and AFC Championship Game appearances from 1970 onward, NFL and AFL Championship Game appearances from 1960 to 1969, finishes of at least second place in the two-division NFL of 1933 to 1959, and finishes of at least fourth place in the single-division NFL of 1920 to 1932. Had an area team ever won a Championship in any of the rival leagues that have come and gone, other than the AFL from whence the Jets came, I would have included that, too.

NBA: Appearances in the Conference Finals of 1971 to 2010, and those in the Division Finals of 1947 to 1970. Also ABA Championships.

NHL: Appearances in the Conference Finals of 1982 to 2010, and Stanley Cup Semifinals of 1926 (the debut season of the NHL's first area team, the New York Americans) to 1981. Had an area team ever won a WHA Championship, I would have included that, too.

It should be no surprise that the teams that have been around the longest have done it the most: The Yankees since 1903, the Rangers since 1926 (and from 1943 to 1967 you only needed to finish 4th in the 6-team NHL), the football Giants since 1925 and the Knicks since 1946.

Let's try it proportionately, to give the new teams a chance: The Mets since 1962, the Jets since 1960, the Nets since 1967, the Islanders since 1972 and the Devils since 1982.

1. New York Yankees, 53 times in 107 MLB seasons (remember, no official resolution to 1994 season): 49.5 percent of their seasons. That's consistency.

-. New York Giants (baseball), 32 times in 75 MLB seasons: 42.7

2. New York Rangers, 28 times in 84 NHL seasons (remember, no season in 2004-05): 33.3. A gift from the "Original Six" setup.

3. New York Giants, 27 times in 85 NFL seasons: 31.8

-. Brooklyn Dodgers, 22 times in 75 combined seasons in the 19th Century version of the American Association and the NL: 29.3

-. Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 times in 14 seasons in the NFL: 28.6

4. New York Islanders, 10 times in 37 NHL seasons: 27.0. The work of Bill Torrey and Al Arbour.

5. New Jersey Devils, 6 times in 27 NHL seasons: 22.2. Lou Lamoriello gets 'em into the Playoffs, but not often enough does he get 'em very far.

6. New York Knicks, 14 times in 64 NBA seasons: 21.9. A bit of excellence, but a lot of mediocrity.

7. New York Mets, 7 times in 49 MLB seasons (counting 1994 since, unlike the Yankees, they were nowhere near contention): 14.3

-. New York Americans, 2 times in 17 seasons in the NHL (1925-26 to 1941-42): 11.7

9. New York Jets, 1: 1968. (Remember: Super Bowl in January, it's the title of the preceding calendar year.)

Proportional Final Twos?

1. New York Yankees: 37.4 percent
-. New York Giants (baseball): 22.7
2. New York Giants (football): 18.8
-. Brooklyn Dodgers: 17.3
3. New Jersey Devils: 14.8
4. New York Islanders: 13.5
5. New York Knicks: 12.5
6. New York Rangers: 11.9
7. New Jersey Nets: 9.3
8. New York Mets: 8.2 -- even below the Nets.
9. New York Jets: 2.0

9. New Jersey Nets, 0: In this case, ABA titles don't count. They remain the only major league team in the Tri-State Area never to have won one. Unless you want to count the WNBA's Liberty (4 Finals appearances but no wins) and the MLS' MetroStars/Red Bulls (1 Finals appearance, no wins -- yet).

Proportional Final Ones?

1. New York Yankees: 25.2 percent
2. New Jersey Devils: 11.1
3. New York Islanders: 10.8
4. New York Giants (football): 8.2
-. New York Giants (baseball): 8.0
-. Brooklyn Dodgers: 5.3
5. New York Rangers: 4.8
6. New York Mets: 4.1
7. New York Knicks: 3.1. Even behind the Mets.
8. New York Jets: 2.0
9. New Jersey Nets: 0.0

The MISL was never, despite its name, a "major league." And I didn't count the MetroStars/Red Bulls, either -- even though they have clinched a Playoff spot this year and have as good a chance as anyone to go all the way.

About Me

Central New Jersey, where men are men, and the women also root for the Yankees., United States

Born in North Jersey. Raised in Central Jersey. Yankee Fan and Rutgers fan since 1977. Devils fan since they arrived in 1982. Arsenal fan since 2008. Former Nets fan, now an NBA free agent. No NFL team. Single, interested in changing that status. No children, but uncle to two adorable young girls. Liberal Democrat and damn proud of it. Hopefully, in sports as well as politics, I can live up to the words of the late John Spencer on "The West Wing": "We are going to raise the level of debate in this country, and let that be our legacy."